Free or open source software (hereinafter “FOSS” or collectively “open source”) may seem at first glance to offer significant benefits, but there are potential pitfalls that may have serious legal consequences. FOSS is the concept that an expressive work may be better utilized and developed by allowing open access to the source code. The theory is that more eyes looking at the code will result in faster discovery and correction of errors than the traditional closed source code system. Issues raised by open source development and licensing may encompass many different bodies of law.
Under the terms of certain licenses, incorporating FOSS code in a project could force a company to release the entire project as open source under the same license. That result could be devastating to the project's commercial value and the company. Even under licenses with friendlier terms, without following the proper procedures, a developer may unknowingly incorporate code that infringes another's rights. Additionally, most open source licenses have disclosure requirements triggered by the further distribution of that code. In short, incorporating open source may force a company to assume liability for that code.